


Aftermath

by peachgal743



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Diego is angry surprise surprise, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Klaus being klaus i guess, Overdose, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 16:18:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17901428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachgal743/pseuds/peachgal743
Summary: "When Klaus saw Diego in the chair by his hospital bed, Ben hovering over his shoulder, he thought he had lost another brother."Diego and Klaus reconnect when Klaus overdoses (again) and Diego finds himself at the hospital with him. The release of Vanya's book has impacted them, and the deal with that just as well as they deal with anything else in their lives.





	Aftermath

   Diego is sitting in the back room of the boxing club, the grunts and yells and occasional cheers from the main room reverberating through the space, a hum of activity reminding him that other people exist. He’s flopped out on his mattress, a book held a foot from his face. He’s staring at the page, but not really reading. The white paper stares back at him, taunting him. As much as he hates to admit it, he can’t stop thinking about what Vanya had written about them.

   He knows, deep down, that some of the shit she had written was true. Their dad was a bastard and he manipulated them from the moment he had realized they could be exploited for their powers. It wasn’t a criminal who had killed Ben, really it had been their father. He had pushed so hard for so long. Diego still hears his voice in his head, still calls himself “Two” when he’s being self critical, as he so often is.

   What he can’t understand, though, is Vanya’s bitterness. So what, she was never held underwater to see how long she could stay there? Was it so traumatic not to have to learn how to hold a knife at the age of seven, earning deep scars all the while? Did she want to take someone’s life, a projectile aimed just to high, on a mission at the age of 13? Diego would have begged to be ignored by their father, even for just a day. But once he had got out from under the old man’s foot, he fucked that up to, getting kicked out of the police academy. Of course, Vanya had noted that too. She had written about his failures and his shortcomings with accuracy he didn’t care to admit.

   One passage returns to his head again and again: “Number Two was so angry that he took it out on everyone but our father. He even took it out on himself. Diego Hargreeves has mastered the art of self-sabotage to a degree rivaled only by my other brother, Number Four.”

   Diego swallows the lump in his throat he can’t seem to get to go away. He lets the unread book fall onto his chest as he tries desperately to get over the anger his sister’s distant words have struck in him. He fails, and therefore proves her right.

   His brooding is interrupted by a loud knock on the thin door. Out of habit, Diego wraps his hand around a smooth knife before dragging himself off the bed and answering it. Al stands on the other side, looking up at him as if he had just insulted his entire family.

   “There’s a call for ya,” he says, voice as grating as ever, “Come and take it, and after actually mop the goddamn floor like you’re supposed to!”

   Diego rolls his eyes, but makes his way to Al’s office, where the phone is waiting off the hook.

   “Hello?” Diego asks when he picks it up, twirling the knife he had grabbed earlier in his palm.

   “Diego? It’s Eudora,” he doesn’t have time to playfully correct her into ‘professionalism’ before she continues, “I think I just found your brother.”

   “Which one? What do you mean _found_?”

   “Klaus is the junkie right? With the hand tattoos?” Her voice is soft, like she’s truly concerned.

   “Yeah,” Diego says, suddenly his mind is racing, “What happened to him?”

   “Well, he overdosed,” she says, like she’s ripping off a bandage, “I called an ambulance, you might want to meet him there. He won’t have anyone else, right?”

    Diego wishes he was surprised. In truth this probably isn’t Klaus’s first OD, and it probably won’t be his last. On any other day, Diego isn’t sure he would go to the hospital. Klaus won’t want him there. But today, he’s thinking about Vanya’s book and about how Klaus is the sibling he hates the least right now, so he tells Eudora that he’s on his way there. He drives to the hospital in a blur. He hasn’t seen Klaus since they were twenty, when they had briefly crossed paths a few years after they both left the academy. He knows Allison keeps in touch with him, as much as she can anyway, with Klaus usually homeless and herself living across the country. Vanya alluded to seeing him every now and again in her trash excuse for a book, and Luther’s still on the fucking moon. He pushes other thoughts out of his mind and finds himself trying to not think about how bad Klaus probably looks at this point.

   The hospital is pretty quiet when Diego arrives. At the front desk, he tells the tired looking nurse who he is and who he’s here to see.

   “His brother? Oh good, they didn’t think they’d have anyone to release him to,” she says, handing him some papers, “Sign these and then you can speak to Dr Jacobs.”

   When the doctor finally appears from the long hallway behind the desk, he is is an austere man who looks at Diego with sympathetic eyes. Diego squirms under his pity.

   “Klaus had more than enough drugs in his system to kill a person. He’s lucky to be alive,” he starts, and Diego wonders for the first time if maybe Klaus did this on purpose, which makes him feel sick suddenly, “We pumped his stomach among other procedures. He should wake up soon. You’re welcome to go in and see him now.”

   Diego thanks him, shakes his hand robotically, and then goes to see his brother. Klaus is laid out on the crisp hospital bed sheets in a far more orderly manner than he would have been had he wound up there under his own power. He’s thin, thinner than Diego remembers, and coated in sweat and grime. The circles under his eyes are deep and he looks older than Diego, even though they are exactly the same age. A heart monitor beeping at his bedside is the only indication that he hasn’t become of the corpses that have tormented him for as long as Diego can remember. Just as Diego takes his seat by the bed, Klaus opens his eyes slowly. His nose scrunches, his eyes offended by the bright hospital lights.

   “Diego?” He asks, surprised, his voice hoarse.

~

   When Klaus saw Diego in the chair by his hospital bed, Ben hovering over his shoulder, he thought he had lost another brother. But as the world comes into focus, he realizes Diego is really there, twiddling with a loose thread on the shitty hospital chair cushion. He tries to clear his throat, and the raw sound has both his brothers, spectral and physical, wincing.

   “Fancy seeing you here,” he gasps out, winking in the direction of his guests. Diego seems at a loss for words, like he had rushed over here and forgotten he’d have to find a way to talk to his brother he hasn’t seen in years. So Klaus does what he does best, he fills the silence:

   “Ah the angry Number Two, don’t hurt me,” he whines sarcastically, holding his _Hello_ hand up to his chest in mock horror. Diego’s face looks puzzled before it clicks, and Klaus answers the question he knew was coming, “Yeah, I read her book when I was in rehab.”

   “She wasn’t so nice to you either. What was it she said? ‘They all sought attention, whether it be for a trip to the moon, in the movies, or by wasting away on drugs,’” Diego remembers, scowling. Klaus sighs and sees Ben roll his eyes.

   “How can she whine without ever trying to understand?” Ben says bitterly.

   “Ben wasn’t a big fan of the book either, you know,” Klaus relays to Diego. Diego furrows his brow in confusion or surprise, but doesn’t ask about it. Klaus thinks he looks extraordinarily tired for someone so young. Instead of asking the questions he so clearly wants to ask, Diego changes the subject:

   “I talked to Allison a couple months ago. She wanted me to check on you. Now I know I should have,” Diego says, eyes cast down suddenly. Klaus cannot understand where the sudden drive to help him is coming from. They are 27, and in all that time Diego had never once reached out to him. It’s a two way street of course, but Klaus doesn’t take kindly to Diego’s tone.

   “I’m not your little brother you know,” Klaus spits, even if he’s not totally sure why he’s lashing out, “I can take care of myself.”

   At that, Diego sighs and stands, pushing his chair back and causing a chilling screech to sound through the small room, “Clearly you can’t! Klaus I don’t understand why you do this to yourself!”

   Ah, there it is, Klaus thinks. He smiles to himself, “Of course you don’t.”

   “What’s so fucking funny? Is everything a joke to you?”

   “And what if it is? At least I’m not prowling the streets as a washed up vigilante. You’re practically back to being Daddy’s little pawn, Number Two. Still wishing he would congratulate you?”

   Klaus almost doesn’t mean what he says. He knows it’s harsh. He knows he’s deflecting and brushing off his problem. He knows all that, but he also knows that Diego is only here because he’s had a moment of holier-than-thou pity, and he knows he could never understand.

   “I should have known better than to come here. God, you really are just a crazy junkie,” Diego hisses, and with that he turns on his heel and strides out, slamming the door behind him.

   “You shouldn’t have pushed him away, Klaus,” Ben says, suddenly on the other side of the hospital bed. Klaus turns away from him.

   “Ben, listen, and I say this with love, shut the fuck up.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this after reading some other fics of a similar nature. Sorry if it reads eerily like some other stuff you may have already read. I wrote this real quick just for fun, so sorry for what I'm sure is a wealth of grammar mistakes. I hope u enjoyed it despite all that! Leave a comment!


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